City Administrator Brian Kranz said refinancing had not been considered until a Press-Gazette Media report in February pointed out Kewaunee was one of only three municipalities in Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties not using the option to tackle their unfunded liabilities.

"There were a lot of people in town who didn't really care for (the report) because they felt (Press-Gazette Media) singled out Kewaunee, but we looked into it," Kranz said. "Once we ran the numbers, I told them you'd be stupid not to refinance."

The Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands approved a $481,887 state trust fund loan for the city on Tuesday. The city will use the borrowed money to pay off its WRS balance.

The new loan has a 3.75 percent interest rate compared to the 7.2 percent interest paid to WRS, Kranz said. The savings will free up nearly $20,000 in the city's annual budget.

The city will have paid a total of $710,000 in principal and interest by the end of the 20-year loan period, and its pension liability will be zero, Kranz said.

Before refinancing, the city's pension debt was growing faster than its annual payments. The debt had grown 38 percent in the 10 years from 2003 to 2013. It was forecast to reach $986,000 by 2035, Kranz said.

Two area municipalities still have unfunded pension debts. The city of Gillett had a debt of about $10,000 and the village of Suring had a debt of about $40,000 as of 2013, according to WRS data.